About Lifespan Rooibos Tea
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Botanical name: |
Aspalathus linearis |
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Family name: |
Fabaceae |
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Commercial names: |
Lifespan Tea®
brand of Rooibos tea, Rooibos tea, Red bush tea |
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Vernacular names: |
African red tea, Mountain tea |
The
ORGANIC
base of our tasty health beverage is a leguminous shrub,
herb, with fine needle-like leaves that grows indigenously in the beautiful
Cedarberg region of South Africa.
The Rooibos story
began at the turn of the century in the
mountains around Clanwilliam near Capetown, in the Cedarberg area of the
Cape. It was the locals of the area who first discovered that the leaves
of the "Teaathus Linearis" plant made a very tasty, aromatic tea. It was
they who first harvested the wild-growing plants, chopped them with axes and
then bruised them with hammers, leaving them to ferment in heaps, before
drying them in the sun.
The
resulting beverage was first reported by the botanist Carl Humberg in 1772.
In
1904, Benjamin Ginsberg, a Russian immigrant and pioneer in the area, became
interested in the "Teaathus Linearis" plant and realized its marketing
potential. Ginsberg was descended from a family who had been in the tea
industry in Europe for centuries, providing him with a solid background and
the necessary experience to market the new "Teaathus Linearis" tea.
We call
this "Teaathus Linearis" Rooibos.
By 1930
a well known medical Doctor, farmer and nature lover, Dr. P. E Fras Nortier,
had discovered that the beverage made from the herb had health promoting
properties, and realized the value of the herb as an agricultural product.
His enthusiasm inspired other farmers and commercial cultivation began.
To continue the
Rooibos
story,
click here
